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Storm-Sky Preview

By ALAN FERGUSONPosted Jun 12 2012 2:44PM

While she missed out on a chance to make WNBA history in her last game, Epiphanny Prince scored enough to lead the Chicago Sky to the longest win streak in team history.

The Sky will try to add to that five-game run and their franchise-best start when they host the Seattle Storm on Wednesday night.

Prince was looking to become the first player to score 30 or more points in four consecutive games when the Sky (6-1) visited New York on Sunday. She scored 26, but lifted her team to a 73-64 win.

Prince, averaging a league-best 25.3 points, has scored 30.5 and shot 55.0 percent in the four contests while going 19 of 31 (61.3 percent) from 3-point range. She's powered the Sky, who have never made the playoffs, into a first-place tie in the Eastern Conference.

"She's one of the five best players in the league right now," coach Pokey Chatman said. "She's just a special player."

Chicago will try to remain atop the standings by beating the Storm, who are off to the worst start in team history. Seattle has made the playoffs in each of the past eight seasons but has been hurt by the absence of three-time MVP Lauren Jackson, who is preparing for the Olympics with the Australian national team.

The Storm also traded away one of the key players from their 2010 WNBA championship run, and she'll face her former team for the first time Wednesday.

The Sky acquired Swin Cash, Le'coe Willingham and a second-round draft pick in January for the No. 2 overall draft pick, which the Storm used on Shekinna Stricklen. Cash is averaging 9.6 points and 5.1 rebounds this season after producing 12.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in four years with Seattle.

Without those two players, the Storm are averaging a league-low 65.9 points and shooting 38.3 percent. They shot 36.4 percent during an 80-67 loss to San Antonio on Saturday, and Stricklen was the only Seattle player to score more than 10 points with 14 off the bench.

Leading scorer Sue Bird endured a 1-for-13 performance from the field and was 1 of 7 from 3-point range, finishing with five points. Bird has gone 7 for 34 over the last three games.

"I just think we are not playing very well. I think it starts with me," Bird said. "We know need to get better. We know we need to get wins."

Bird and her teammates will try to avoid a season-high fourth straight loss and earn their first road win in six tries by snapping a three-game skid in Chicago. Bird scored 26 points at Allstate Arena on July 19, but Sylvia Fowles had 24 and Prince added 23 in a 78-69 victory.

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Tamera Young scored 12 points and Ruth Riley added 10 for Chicago (7-1), which never trailed and extended the best start in team history.

``Our main focus was going out and getting to a good start because our (previous) home games have been kind of rough,'' Fowles said. ``We try not to make it so hard in the beginning but overall everyone did their part on the floor.''

Fowles shot 8 for 10 from the field got her eighth straight double-double, matching her own single-season league record set last year. Prince, the league's leading scorer at 25.3 points per game coming in, shot just 6 for 16 - including 4 for 8 on 3-pointers.

``I was just reading what the defense was giving me and playing off of that,'' Prince said. ``We had certain plays for me and I got open looks and I was able to hit them.''

Tina Thompson scored 13 points and Ann Wauters had 12 as Seattle (1-7) dropped its sixth straight on the road and fourth in a row overall.

``I thought defensively we did a pretty good job on Prince and Fowles in regards to guarding them on their offense,'' Storm coach Brian Agler said. ``But we didn't do a very good job of keeping Fowles off the boards and giving them too many second chances.''

The Sky led by nine at halftime and stretched it to 11 early in the third quarter before the Storm pulled within four heading to the fourth. However, Chicago outscored Seattle 16-3 over the first 7:12 of the final period to take a 70-53 lead with 2:48 to go. The Sky finished with a 20-8 scoring edge in the fourth.

``We had a solid defensive effort in the fourth quarter,'' Sky coach Pokey Chatman said. ``We were plus-23 on the boards. We could have taken care of the ball a little better but I could live with the 15 (turnovers) because only three came from (Prince) and (Courtney Vandersloot) and they played 60 minutes, so that was a good thing.''

The Sky outrebounded the Storm 44-21 and shot 44 percent (32 for 72) from the field. Seattle was just 38 percent (20 for 53).

Thompson picked up Seattle's first offensive rebound midway through the third quarter as the Storm trimmed a double-digit deficit to 54-50 on Ewelina Kobryn's layup in the final minute of the period.

Fowles had eight points and three rebounds and Prince scored six points as the Sky took a 20-13 lead after one quarter.

Chicago opened its biggest lead of the half at 40-29 just before the break on Sonja Petrovic's jumper with a minute to go. Prince had six more points in the period.

Wauters had 10 first-half points for the Storm, who were outrebounded 23-11 over the first 20 minutes.

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited